Letters

Don Schrader on APD

Dear Alibi,

How many murders by Albuquerque police would it take for you to call the mayor and the police chief, and to speak before City Council demanding no more police murders, no more police brutality! Would it take 100 police murders a year? One every day? What if your Chicano good neighbor were murdered by police? What if your African-American close friend were murdered by police? Your mentally ill beloved son murdered by police? Your unarmed dear brother murdered by police? Who would have to be murdered or severely abused by police until you would feel the anger, pain and sadness of those families and friends whose loved ones have been murdered or beaten by police?

Since 2010, Albuquerque has had about as many police shootings as New York City, which has 15 times the population of Albuquerque!

I strongly compliment and thank U.S. District Court Chief Judge Black for having the conscience and courage to overturn the jury verdict that cleared Albuquerque police officers who tortured 60-year-old unarmed and drunk Tony Nelson. Sadly many jurors side with those in authority no matter what. Twenty years ago in Los Angeles the jury refused to convict four police officers for the severe beating of African-American Rodney King—recorded on videotape.

Nurses see dangerous medical mistakes in hospitals but often fear to blow the whistle. I suppose some Albuquerque police condemn police shootings and torture, but they fear being ostracized, demoted or fired if they speak out publicly. These police may silently cheer people who take a stand against police brutality.

Every U.S. war massacres moms, dads and children and thus breeds fear, hatred and revenge toward this empire and toward us living here. Police torture and murders breed fear, hatred and revenge. So if you want police to be safe and respected, demand that all police brutality stop!

As a longtime activist I do NOT want to trigger trouble and violence from police in public demonstrations. All of us, including both police and protesters, are capable of stupid violence. I aim to live nonviolently toward all people, including police. I have never owned a gun.

I thank and compliment those police who escorted our Downtown May 1 march for immigrants’ rights and for workers’ rights. Good work!

Speak out at the City Council meetings held in the basement City Council chambers, southeast corner of Fifth Street and Marquette NW. Meetings are at 5 p.m. on May 21, June 4, June 18, (none in July), Aug. 6, Aug. 20. Arrive 20 minutes early to sign up to speak for two minutes in the public comment period.

After WWII, a Jewish rabbi in Germany said what shocked him more than the terror of the Nazis was the silence of the good people in Germany. I refuse to be silent!

Don Schrader

Runaway Wilson

Dear Alibi,

The Senate campaign is on and Heather Wilson's first television ad tells us she can control runaway government because of all the things she learned in the military.

She did not control the runaway government led by George W. Bush when it declared war on a country that had not attacked us. In fact, she voted for the war and then voted not to pay for it by slashing taxes for the wealthy. How much more runaway can government get? As a third-generation military member, she should have known better than to vote to send American troops into harm’s way for crass political purposes.

Here at home, she is a staunch supporter of the now delayed CMRR building at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a needless structure whose cost has risen from hundreds of millions to more than $6 billion. A more flagrant waste of taxpayer money cannot be found. This is runaway government welfare for nuclear weapon scientists.

Ms. Wilson is the wrong person to send to the U.S. Senate this fall. Her common sense seems to have run away, and she thinks New Mexico voters are too stupid to notice.

Jeff SussmannSanta Fe

Appalled by Wiener

Dear Alibi,

A story out of GQ five years ago discusses buying girls for sex and walking around with them through Angeles City in the Philippines. It talks about the fake birth certificate that lies the little 13-year-old girl being forced to dance in one of those clubs is 19. This place Commissioner Wiener went sells children—boys and girls—and is well-known to the misfit white guys as the easy place to buy children for sex.

We have representative government. This is my district. I have three teenage girls—one who is 13—and Michael Wiener does not represent my family. So he will not voluntarily resign. My district, Senate District 21, gets out and votes. We do not have lynch mobs, like Michael Wiener suggests. It is my job to speak for my constituents, and I want it to be loud and clear that each and every one of the constituents in my district that has talked about Michael Wiener is appalled and disgusted by the plain truth of those photos.

Sometimes we vote people into office, and sometimes we vote them out. I have faith that the Republican members of my district will come out in droves on June 5 and vote Michael Wiener out of office. There will be no lynch mob for you, Mr. Wiener. As the senator for this district, and more importantly as a lawyer that goes after the perpetrators of childhood sexual abuse under the civil law, I do promise to watch you. Those photos were a gift to your constituents, and all of us that work to protect children. We know who we have, now it is the job of the voters to do our duty. It is the American way. You do not represent us here in Senate District 21. We want you out!

Lisa K. CurtisSenator, District 21

Clarification: Upper Nob Hill is a lively, forward-thinking neighborhood that's home to an array of our favorite things. We regret any misunderstanding the article "Rumble Seat Music Southwest" [Music, May 10-16] may have caused readers, who clearly love the area as much as we do.

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